3
They encamped in the valley near Bethulia, beside the spring, and they spread out in breadth over Dothan as far as Balbaim and in length from Bethulia to Cyamon, which faces Esdraelon.
4
When the Israelites saw their vast numbers, they were greatly terrified and said to one another, "They will now strip clean the whole land; neither the high mountains nor the valleys nor the hills will bear their weight."
5
Yet they all seized their weapons, and when they had kindled fires on their towers, they remained on guard all that night.
6
On the second day Holofernes led out all his cavalry in full view of the Israelites in Bethulia.
7
He reconnoitered the approaches to their town, and visited the springs that supplied their water; he seized them and set guards of soldiers over them, and then returned to his army.
8
Then all the chieftains of the Edomites and all the leaders of the Moabites and the commanders of the coastland came to him and said,
9
"Listen to what we have to say, my lord, and your army will suffer no losses.
10
This people, the Israelites, do not rely on their spears but on the height of the mountains where they live, for it is not easy to reach the tops of their mountains.
11
Therefore, my lord, do not fight against them in regular formation, and not a man of your army will fall.
12
Remain in your camp, and keep all the men in your forces with you; let your servants take possession of the spring of water that flows from the foot of the mountain,
13
for this is where all the people of Bethulia get their water. So thirst will destroy them, and they will surrender their town. Meanwhile, we and our people will go up to the tops of the nearby mountains and camp there to keep watch to see that no one gets out of the town.